BACKGROUND, FINANCIAL ESTIMATION AND PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT PUBLIC SUPPORT POLICIES FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC DEPLOYMENT IN NORTH AMERICA, EUROPE AND ASIAN COUNTRIES

摘要

The recent growth of photovoltaic electricity generation, despite its high levelized costs, wasaccompanied by strong national support policies because of its environmental benefits compared with conventionalenergy sources. Thus, many countries have set targets for PV deployment. The possibility to achieve them at a lowercost has now become a central issue, making it necessary to examine the efficiency of the instruments used topromote PV. First, the mechanisms of PV systems development are described since demand and supply are acting onthe reduction cost of PV systems. On the one hand, subsidies for R&D could be delivered. This would lead todecrease the PV costs. On the other hand, support could be provided through grants for investment in order to boostthe demand for PV systems. By stimulating the demand, we expect that the cost will decrease due to the learning-bydoingeffect. Then, the public support for PV is assessed for seven representative countries. Based on the financialevaluations of PV supports, the performances of these policies are compared from the different states of PVdevelopment in each country. The main conclusion is that it is necessary to have a well-planed policy and not anundergone one.